A.
Enforcement authority:Planning Director. The Planning Director is hereby authorized and directed to enforce the provisions of this Chapter 18:1.
B.
Right of entry. The Planning Director, the Deputy Planning Director, the Zoning Administrator, and any
employees of the Department designated by the Planning Director, the Deputy Planning Director, or the
Zoning Administrator are authorized to enter upon open land in the County for such purposes.
A.
When authorized. The Planning Commission, the Board, or the Planning Director may at any time request that any information necessary to any determination to be made under any provision of this Chapter 18:1 be submitted under affidavit.
B.
Form. The affidavit shall:
(1)
Be in writing and signed by the owner or other person from whom the affidavit is requested; and
(2)
Contain a written certificate, bearing the signature
and official seal of a notary public or other person authorized to administer oaths, that the affiant has personally
appeared and stated under the penalties of perjury that the statements
contained in the affidavit are true to the best of the affiant's knowledge,
information, and belief.
C.
Use. The affidavit shall be considered with all other
evidence of the matter to which it relates and be a permanent part
of that record.
B.
Remedies. Upon the occurrence of an event referred to in Subsection A of this section, the County Commissioners, the Planning Commission, or the Planning
Director, in addition to other remedies, may institute any
appropriate action or proceeding:
(1)
To prevent the unlawful erection, construction,
reconstruction, alteration, repair, conversion, maintenance, or use of a building, structure, sign, or land;
(2)
To restrain, correct, or abate a violation;
(3)
To prevent the occupancy of a building, structure, or land; or
(4)
To prevent any illegal act, conduct, business,
or use in or about a building, structure, or land.
A.
Prohibition. Whoever, being the owner or agent of
the owner of any land located within a subdivision, transfers or sells or agrees to sell or negotiates
to sell any land by reference to or exhibition of or by other use
of a plat of a subdivision, before the plat has been approved as provided in this Chapter 18:1 and recorded with the Recorder of Deeds, or does any other act prohibited from
time to time by the provisions of Section 5.05 of Article 66B, Annotated
Code of Maryland, shall forfeit and pay a civil penalty for each lot or parcel so transferred, sold, or
agreed or negotiated to be sold, as provided from time to time in
that section of the Code.
B.
Scope of section. The description of the lot or parcel by metes and bounds in the instrument of transfer or other document used in the process of sale or transfer shall not exempt the transaction from the penalties or from the
remedies herein provided.
C.
Procedures available. The County may
enjoin the transfer or sale or agreement by action
for injunction brought in any court of equity jurisdiction or may
recover the penalty by civil action in any court of competent jurisdiction.
D.
Commentary. This section restates the present provisions
of Section 5.05 of Article 66B, Annotated Code of Maryland and is
included here solely to illustrate the full range of enforcement procedures.
There is no intention either to enlarge or to limit the authority
conferred by the statute.
[Amended 9-7-2004 by Ord. No. 04-33]
A.
Civil penalties.
(1)
A person who commits or assists in the commission of any act enumerated in Subsection C(2) of this section is guilty of a civil zoning violation and subject to an original preset fine, not to exceed $500, as set forth in parentheses in that subsection.
(2)
Each day on which the violation continues constitutes
a separate violation.
B.
Additional penalties. A person who does not pay the original preset fine within the time specified in the original citation issued in accordance with § 18:1-213 of this Chapter 18:1, or fails to file a timely notice of intention to stand trial and does not pay the original preset fine within 15 days from the date of formal notice of the violation, shall pay an additional fine equal to twice the amount of the original preset fine.
C.
Enumeration of violations.
(2)
The following acts constitute a civil zoning
violation:
(a)
An act for which a building permit is required, that is done without having made application for such permit as required by this Chapter 18:1: ($500);
(b)
An act for which a building permit is required, that is done after such permit has been issued but has expired by the terms of this Chapter 18:1: ($500);
(c)
An act done on a lot with respect
to which a building permit has been issued, that violates or exceeds
the authority conferred by that permit: ($500);
(d)
An act that involves the use or occupation of any property for which a building permit has been
issued, prior to the time when it has been finally inspected and approved
by the Planning Director as required by this Chapter 18:1: ($500);
(e)
An act that violates any express covenant or condition of any approval given by the Planning Commission, the Board, or the Planning Director under this Chapter 18:1 or any prior ordinance relating to issuance of building permits, zoning permits, occupancy permits, conditional use approval, site plan and subdivision approval, and all applicable performance standards required in this Chapter 18:1: ($500);
(f)
An act that constitutes a continuance of a nonconforming use or structure after the time when this Chapter 18:1 requires that such use be terminated or discontinued: ($500);
(g)
An act that constitutes the changing, moving,
enlarging, expanding, extending, or modifying of any nonconforming
use or structure in a manner not authorized by this Chapter 18:1: ($500);
(h)
An act for which a conditional use permit is
required, including but not limited to any forestry use requiring a conditional use permit, that is done without having made application for or obtaining such permit as required by this Chapter 18:1: ($500);
(i)
An act for which a zoning certificate is required (including for signs and banners),
that is done without having made application for such permit or that
violates or exceeds the authority conferred by that permit: ($500);
and
A.
Manner of collection. The procedure for the issuance
of citations, collection of fines, and trial with
respect to disputed or unsatisfied citations shall
be that prescribed in Section 7.07(c) of Article 66B of the Annotated
Code of Maryland.
B.
Duty of local officials.
(1)
The Planning Director, the
Deputy Planning Director, the Zoning Administrator, or an employee
of the Department of Planning and Zoning designated by the Planning Director, the Deputy Planning Director, or the
Zoning Administrator has the authority to issue an original citation and deliver it to a person believed to be committing a civil zoning violation and are hereby declared to be the zoning officials with the duty of enforcing this Chapter 18:1 for that purpose. A copy of each original citation shall be given to the County Commissioners and
the County Finance Director.
(2)
The Finance Director is hereby declared to be the zoning official with the duty of enforcing this Chapter 18:1, with respect to:
(a)
Receiving and filing a copy of each original citation and any fines or notices of intention to stand
trial;
(b)
Mailing formal notices of the violation to persons who do not give notice of intention to stand trial
or pay the established fine within the time set in the citation; and
(c)
Notifying the District Court of any notice of
intention to stand trial or any request for adjudication when a fine
is not paid after the Finance Director has given formal notice thereof.
C.
Court appearances. The person who
issued the initial citation and any other members
of the Department so directed by the Planning
Director shall appear and testify in any trial held with
respect to the citation in the District Court.
D.
County Attorney. The County Attorney is authorized
to prosecute any civil zoning violation.
A.
Penalties for violation.
(1)
A person who commits or assists in the commission of any unlawful act referred to in Subsection B of this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and subject to a fine of not less than $200 or more than $1,000 or to imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or to both fine and imprisonment.
(2)
Each day on which the violation continues constitutes
a separate offense.
B.
Unlawful acts. The conduct described in any item of
this subsection is an unlawful act:
(1)
Making a materially false writing in an application for any zoning approval required
by this Part 7;
(2)
With respect to any other application or procedure required or authorized by this Chapter 18:1, making a materially false writing that the person knows or should
reasonably believe will form a significant part of the basis for a
decision required to be made by a zoning authority under this Chapter 18:1;
(3)
Submitting to a zoning authority, with respect to any determination to be made under this Chapter 18:1, a writing that the person knows
or should reasonably believe is a false or incomplete representation
of any action taken by any other zoning authority;
(4)
Submitting to a zoning authority, with respect to any determination to be made under this Chapter 18:1, any writing that the person knows or should reasonably believe is a false or incomplete representation
of the action or findings of any governmental agency whose review or approval is a prerequisite to any action by a zoning authority under this Chapter 18:1;
(7)
Making any willfully false statement with respect to any guarantee required by this Chapter 18:1 or any release of any such guarantee;
(8)
Willfully providing any false or incorrect information
to a zoning authority in connection with a determination
of whether any use is a nonconforming use as defined in this Chapter 18:1;
(9)
Willfully allowing any use not authorized or allowed by this Chapter 18:1 to continue for a period of more than 30 days after written notification by the Planning
Director that such is a violation of this Chapter 18:1 (for purposes of this item, a "use not authorized or allowed by this Chapter 18:1" includes any use that might
also constitute a civil zoning violation, other than a civil zoning
violation which has not been adjudicated in the District Court after
the issuance of a citation and timely notice of intention
to stand trial; a person "allows any use" if that person has the power or authority to prohibit
such use);
(10)
Willfully using any property for any purpose
or in any manner that could not be authorized by a building permit
or by site plan or subdivision approval
and has not been authorized by variance in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter 18:1; or
(11)
Willfully misrepresenting to a zoning
authority the boundaries of any lot or the
location of any existing or proposed structure, or
any other physical characteristics of any land or structure that this Chapter 18:1 requires to be represented or disclosed. (Proof of such misrepresentation must include a nonverbal act, such as the submission of a plat or drawing or the exhibition of staking or other physical representation of the location of existing or proposed characteristics.)
